The Neighbor
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: Rachel and Sasha go to negotiate some land trade with their neighbor, but something seems suspicious about their neighbor. Written by guestsurprise. I only posted it for them. :)


**Another great story by guestsurprise, who owns Madison. Rachel, Sasha, and the Grant Mansion belong to me and I gave guestsurprise full permission to use them. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action.**

 **A/N: Now before someone leaves a review saying this isn't a Ben 10 story, aliens are mentioned in this story. Please remember to be nice in your reviews. You can leave constructive criticism, but no hateful remarks.**

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 **The Neighbor**

Rachel and Sasha were going over some documents about the Grant Mansion. They knew that they would need to renovate the mansion so that they could expand it for more children and aliens if need be.

"We will need more space." Sasha said softly.

"True, but the private area near the back of the swamp is private land. It belongs to another family from what I remember. It's strange though; we've never met them." Rachel said, now thinking about the situation.

"You know, that's right. I remember that someone lived back there near the backwoods, but we've never met them. However, we need to buy some land from them if we are to expand some of the mansion. We are almost at our limits." Sasha said softly.

"But if we bought that land, we would have so much space that we would never have to borrow or buy any more land again!" Rachel smiled happily.

"Correct! So now all we need to do is to go over to those neighbors and ask if they would sell some of their land to us!" Sasha smiled, grabbing her purse and keys. "Let's go!"

Rachel smiled and walked out the door with her sister and soon both were in the car and driving towards the small home. It was definitely a small house and was surrounded by swamp and forest.

"Gosh, if I didn't know better, I would say this person had a mini-Grant Mansion," Rachel chuckled.

"I agree! This place is very private!" Sasha added. Once they drove up the dirt and pebble pathway, they saw an old car parked in the corner. The car looked like it hadn't been driven in a while.

"Interesting. I wonder what they do for a living." Rachel thought.

"We will know once we meet them." Sasha grinned. And once Rachel parked the car, the sisters began to walk up the dirt pathway and to the house. It was a bit spooky, but it was definitely something the girls were used to. Once they were at the door, they knocked but there was complete silence for a moment.

"I wonder if anyone is home." Rachel thought out loud.

"I'm not sure. Knock again." Sasha added. Rachel knocked again and this time they heard a young voice coming to the door.

"Just a minute I'm coming! The young voice called out. Within a second, they saw a young girl answer the door. She had messy brown hair and blue eyes and she wore black glasses. "Can I help you?"

"Hello! My name is Rachel. We wanted to know if we could speak with your parents."

"Um, sure. Dad is in the living room and mom is out shopping. I'll let him know you're here." The young girl said.

"What's your name?" Sasha asked kindly.

"I'm Madison." She grinned.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Sasha and you've met my sister, Rachel."

"Nice to meet you all too! Please come in!" Madison smiled, now letting them walk in the house and into the living room. While the sisters followed her, Sasha noticed that the house looked very dusty and the carpet looked dirty. The entire house looked like it had not had a good spring cleaning in a while.

"Gosh, perhaps Madison's mother has been ill and has not been able to clean the house for a while." Sasha whispered to Rachel.

"I know. The house looks like it could definitely use a good cleaning." Rachel whispered back. Their thoughts were interrupted when Madison pointed to the living room with a man sitting at a table, reading a paper.

"Dad, we have some visitors." Madison smiled.

"Oh, I see! Come on in! Welcome!" The man smiled, beckoning them inside the room. The sisters happily walked in and sat down at the table with the man. "My name is Michael. I'm Madison's father. Who might you be?"

"I'm Rachel Jocklin and this is my sister Sasha." Rachel grinned.

"Nice to meet you both!" He smiled, now shaking their hands. Both girls winced a bit because his grip was a bit strong. "Oh, I apologize if my grip was too strong."

"It's alright. We wanted to speak with you about a business matter." Rachel said softly.

"Oh?"

"Yes, we wanted to ask if you could sell us some of your property. We have a large family and we wanted to extend our mansion to have enough space for everyone."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Our land is not for sale." He said softly.

"B-But we are willing to pay a good amount; about $10,000 for some of it! It would help us a lot!" Sasha said eagerly. She knew she could get the money by everyone pitching in and helping.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Our land is not for sale." He said again softly. Both girls thought it was strange he repeated himself with the exact same words and the exact same tone.

"Sir, we really need that space. It would help the women and children who live with us."

"I am not sure what we can do about that." Michael said softly.

"Um, can I get you all some tea?" Madison jumped in eagerly, cutting her father off.

"Yes, please," Rachel said politely, still wanting to negotiate with Michael.

"Yes." Sasha smiled.

Madison nodded and walked out of the room to get the iced tea. When she returned, she gave each of them a bottle of iced tea, but Rachel's bottle top popped off too fast and caused her tea to overflow! Her tea accidentally spilled on Michael! He let out a gasp and they saw a sudden spark that came out of nowhere!

"Whoa! What was that?!" Sasha gasped.  
"N-Nothing! Please excuse me!" He said, now quickly running out of the room.

"I'm so sorry!" Rachel called after him. Madison quickly ran in and began gently pushing the sisters towards the door.

"I'm sorry! Dad means well, but he needs to get cleaned up! Come back tomorrow please!" Madison said, gently pushing them towards the door.

"Honey! What's the hurry?! The tea wasn't hot." Sasha said softly.

"Sorry, Dad's, uh, sometimes allergic to certain types of tea. I gotta check on him! It was nice meeting you! Please come back tomorrow," Madison said, now escorting them out the door and closing it. They then heard the patter of feet heading to the back of the house. The sisters could only stare at the closed door in front of their faces.

"What just happened?" Sasha asked.

"I don't know, Sasha, but something is wrong here. I don't know what, but something is very wrong."

"You mean that strange spark?"

"That and also that Michael's behavior. He wouldn't even consider our offer after we told him about women and children needing it. He has a child of his own, so surely he could relate."

"I agree. Something is strange."

"I think we should come back tonight."

"Really?!"

"Yes, I want to know more about this family and what is really happening here." Rachel said, now heading back to the car. "We will find out more because they are not expecting us until tomorrow."

* * *

 _That night…_

Rachel and Sasha walked quietly up the small house; there was something very strange about the whole situation.

"Let's look in that window." Rachel whispered, pointing to the living room window, but Sasha pushed her head down.

"No. Look over there!" Sasha said softly. Rachel turned and they saw a person in a cloak heading out into the night. They were all alone. "Who is that?"

"I don't know. Let's follow." Rachel whispered. And with that, they followed the figure. It didn't take them long to see that the figure was slowing down and stopping near two large stones. It stopped in front of the stones, placed flowers them, and walked back up to the house.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know but they left something on those stones over there. Let's take a look."

"Do you really think we should?"

"I don't think it would hurt." Rachel replied softly. Sasha nodded and they both walked up to the stones. When they shone their flashlight on them, their eyes widened! Those were headstones!

"Rachel! This one says Michael Polaris!" Sasha said in pure horror.

"And this one says Martha Polaris!" Rachel said in shock. "If that is Michael, then who were we talking to?! If these are Madison's parents, then who is she living with?!"

Sasha and Rachel both stood in pure silence for a few moments and then quickly made their way back to the house. They gently went up to the window and saw Madison sitting on a chair eating an apple. She was the only one who appeared to be in the house!

"We're going to get to the bottom of this now!" Rachel said, now standing up and heading to the door.

"What are you doing?!"

"Getting answers." Rachel said sternly. She began to beat on the door and within a few moments, Madison answered the door. Her eyes were wide in shock and confusion!

"What? What's going on? I thought you both were coming back tomorrow!"

"Madison, we need answers. Who was that man with you today? We know it wasn't your real father!"

"What are you talking about?!" Madison said angrily.

"We saw you put the flowers on those headstones out there, honey!" Sasha answered. Madison's eyes got even wider.

"You…You need to go!" She said, now trying to close the door, but Rachel and Sasha both pushed it open and forced their way inside!

"Not so fast!" Rachel said. But Madison then began to run back into the house. "Madison, come back here!"

"You can't just come in here! This is my house!" Madison said angrily.

"We're not trying to intrude or hurt you, Madison! Honey, just answer our questions and we'll leave! Who was that?! We are just trying to make sure you're alright and not in any danger!"

"Hello?" A voice asked. Both girls turned and their mouths gaped open in horror! They saw Michael smiling at them, but his chest was open and filled with electronics! He was a robot!

"That would explain the spark earlier!" Sasha said almost in a shriek! "That tea caused him to almost malfunction!"

"No! NO, NO, NO! You're ruining everything!" Madison said angrily, now climbing up a small and broken stairwell.

"Madison! Get down! That's not safe!" Rachel demanded, now climbing after her.

"Be careful, Rachel!" Sasha called.

"You all can't just come in here like this! This is my house." Madison said, now balancing on a broken beam.

"Your parents died?" Sasha asked softly, trying to remain calm and change the subject.

"Yes. They died in a storm a few years ago. I was the only one who witnessed it because it was a storm that affected only this area." Madison said, tears welling up.

"Madison, how old are you?" Rachel asked, trying to follow her.

"I'm 10. But I have always been good at electronics. My parents wanted this house to always stay in the family so I vowed to keep it that way. I buried them myself and I have been pretending that they were still alive ever since with my robots." Madison said sadly.

"You made those robots?" Sasha said in shock.

"Yes, but they still have glitches." Madison said, hanging her head.

"Have you considered being in another family or being adopted?" Rachel asked, almost catching her, but Madison jumped on another broken beam, making Rachel almost scream, hoping Madison would not fall.

"Of course not! If I did, I would be betraying their memory forever!" Madison said in shock. "I can never have another family and I don't want another one. I'm better off alone."

"Everyone needs a family." Sasha replied softly.

"Not me. I am better off alone. My duty is to keep my parents' memory alive and to take care of this house and the land around it. This house is my responsibility and my responsibility alone." Madison replied strongly.

"You don't have to take care of all of this alone, Madison! We can help you! We can be your family. If you were in our family, the land would still be yours, you would just be sharing it with your new family…us," Rachel said, now almost an arm's reach away.

"Rachel. Sasha. I know you both are trying to help, but I don't want or need another family. I can take care of myself. My twin sometimes helps me when she's in town to help me pay the bills."

"Twin? You have a twin? Who is she?!" Rachel asked.

"I can't tell you that." Madison replied softly.

"How can a 10 year old pay the bills?" Sasha said in shock. Madison smiled gently.

"I have my ways. But I am letting you both know I am not trying to be mean, but do not try to come back. You're lucky I didn't have my net traps set tonight. They are to keep all people off my property and trap anyone who gets too close." And with those words, she climbed out a window and into the night.

"Madison, come back here!" Rachel called, but she was gone. Rachel and Sasha climbed down and ran outside but she was nowhere to be found.

"This little girl has been living over here alone since the great storm! That was 2 years ago!"

"I know. And not only that, but she doesn't have a family or want a family."

"What do you think will happen to her?" Sasha asked worriedly.

"I don't know, Sasha; I just don't know." Rachel said, looking out into the distance. "One thing's for sure, she is definitely a survivor."

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 **guestsurprise's words: Just a thought I had! Madison is a complicated one that's for sure! ;) She is not an easy one.**

 **Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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